Ghanaian jurist, Dr Sylvia Ama Adusu, has been sworn in as a member of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), becoming the first African woman to serve on the international maritime court.
Dr Adusu was sworn in alongside four other newly elected judges at a public sitting of the Tribunal in Hamburg, Germany, yesterday, to begin their nine-year terms ending in 2035.
The other judges are George Rodrigo Bandeira Galindo of Brazil, Slim Laghmani of Tunisia, Lan-Anh Thi Nguyen of Vietnam and Bimal N. Patel of India.
During the sitting, the five judges made the solemn declaration required under Article 11 of the Statute of the Tribunal to exercise their powers impartially and conscientiously.
The judges were elected at the 36th Meeting of States Parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to serve nine-year terms commencing October 1, 2026.
Historic election
Dr Adusu’s election in June this year made her the first African woman elected to the ITLOS bench.
She secured 130 votes out of 169 votes cast at the 36th Meeting of States Parties to UNCLOS held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.
Her election followed Ghana’s nomination and the endorsement of her candidature by the African Union.
Dr Adusu, a former Chief State Attorney and former head of the International Law Division of the Office of the Attorney-General and Ministry of Justice, has more than three decades of experience in legal practice and international law.
She holds a PhD in International Law from the University of Lancaster in the United Kingdom, with research focused on the delimitation and conservation of marine resources under UNCLOS within the context of cooperation over Gulf of Guinea resources.
Maritime experience
Her experience in the law of the sea includes working on major cases involving Ghana before international tribunals.
She was a member of Ghana’s legal team in the “ARA Libertad” case involving Argentina and Ghana before ITLOS and served as counsel in Ghana’s maritime boundary dispute with Côte d’Ivoire before the tribunal. She was also part of Ghana’s maritime boundary negotiating team.
The Ghana-Côte d’Ivoire case concerned the delimitation of the maritime boundary between the two countries in the Atlantic Ocean and was heard by ITLOS in Hamburg.
Dr Adusu has also represented Ghana in international legal proceedings, including proceedings before the International Court of Justice on the request for an advisory opinion on climate change.
ITLOS
ITLOS is an independent judicial body established by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
It has jurisdiction over disputes concerning the interpretation or application of the convention and other matters specifically provided for in agreements conferring jurisdiction on the tribunal.
Its work covers disputes involving maritime boundaries, navigation, conservation and management of living marine resources, protection and preservation of the marine environment and marine scientific research.
On September 17, 2017, ITLOS successfully settled a dispute concerning delimitation of the maritime boundary between Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire in the Atlantic Ocean.
